


Stargaze

by Burgie



Series: The High School AU of Fluff and Good Things [7]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/F, High School AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 14:20:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17489606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Willow invites her girlfriend over for studying and pizza. Willow belongs to willownorthbook.





	Stargaze

**Author's Note:**

  * For [willownorthbook](https://archiveofourown.org/users/willownorthbook/gifts).



Oskar knew that something was up when Willow came home from school looking minutely more stressed than usual. Her brow was furrowed, and she kept chewing on her bottom lip as if deep in thought. She'd barely said two words to him since she'd gotten home, too busy cleaning her already-clean bedroom.

"What's on your mind, willow tree?" Oskar asked, leaning in the doorway. Willow shook her head, raking her hands through hair that she'd recently dyed a greying purple. It had been short, but now she was growing it out. She didn't seem to mind the brown roots coming through, oddly enough.

"Oh," said Willow, turning to face her father with wide green eyes. She looked a little pale, which was definitely concerning. Oskar pressed the back of his hand to her forehead, but he couldn't detect a fever. Willow frowned. "Dad, I'm not sick."

"Well, something's going on," said Oskar, moving his hands to rest gently on his daughter's shoulders. "You can tell me anything, Wills, you know that." Willow took a deep breath, then let it out, her green eyes fluttering closed. Oskar tensed, though he didn't know why- Willow was far too young and far too responsible to be pregnant.

"I invited Alex over," said Willow, one arm coming up to rub the other. "And I know, I should've told you first, but it was spur of the minute and she's really struggling with this assignment and I promised to help her and I really like her and just-" Oskar placed a gentle hand over his daughter's mouth, cutting off her nervous chatter with a chuckle.

"Wills, hey, it's okay," said Oskar, grinning at her. "You can invite your girlfriend over. Wait, is she your girlfriend?" He took his hand away so that she could speak.

"I guess," said Willow, shrugging. "I started tutoring her, and now we're just... well, she kissed me when she passed her last math exam, and then we went out for pizza."

"Sounds like true love," said Oskar, waggling his eyebrows as he grinned. Willow didn't know whether to roll her eyes or laugh, though she did smile.

"Yeah," said Willow. "But you're not mad that I invited her over without asking you or telling you first?"

"Hey, your first love is easy to get caught up in," said Oskar. "Trust me. But it's okay, we can just order in pizza."

"And we'll be really quiet, I promise," said Willow. "We'll just be in my room. With the door open!" Now colour flooded her face, replacing the worrying paleness. Oskar laughed, patting Willow's shoulder.

"I trust you," said Oskar. "It's alright, Wills, I'm sure you'll give me some fair warning next time."

"Thank you," said Willow, her shoulders sagging as the tension left her body.

"I'll order that pizza for six?" Oskar asked.

"Yes," said Willow, nodding. "She'll be here before then, though, she said she'll be here around five."

"Perfect," said Oskar. "I'll just go make myself look decent and practice my best fatherly concern face."

"Dad," Willow complained, but she smiled as Oskar left her room.

After cleaning her room and clearing a space for her and Alex to study together (and changing her outfit about half a dozen times), Willow waited in the front room of the apartment for Alex to arrive. Her knee jogged nervously as she sat in an armchair, and she bolted to her feet the second she heard a knock on the door.

Her heart still pounding, Willow opened the door to find a beaming Alex standing on the other side of it.

"Hey," said Alex, grinning as she raised a hand. She looked as beautiful as ever, her dirty blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail under her orange beanie. She even wore a blue flannel jacket over a white t-shirt, and her usual dark blue jeans over sneakers.

"Hi," said Willow, an answering smile tugging at her lips. "Dad's here, he's cool with it."

"Wait, you didn't clear this with him first?" Alex asked as she walked inside of the apartment and began looking around. Immediately, Willow felt self-conscious about everything in there, though it just looked like an ordinary apartment shared by a father and his daughter.

"No," said Willow, wringing her fingers together as she blushed. "It was a spur of the moment thing. But I was planning on inviting you over anyway."

"My rebel girl," said Alex, turning and kissing Willow on the cheek. Willow touched her cheek, smiling, when Alex turned away.

"Was that the door I heard?" Oskar asked, walking out of his study. He grinned at the sight of Alex, holding out his hand for her to shake as he approached her. "Oh, you must be Alex, I'm Oskar, Willow's father."

"Yep, that's me, Alex Cloudmill," said Alex, holding her own hand out too. Willow gaped at her girlfriend, surprised at how bold Alex was being. The mere thought of meeting Alex's family was enough to make Willow shake with nerves, but here was Alex, already acting as though she'd known Oskar for years.

"So, you're the one who's stolen my little girl's heart, huh?" said Oskar. Alex nodded, and now she looked a little more humble, blushing.

"Apparently," said Alex, grinning as she shrugged. Her hand grazed over the side of her beanie, as though trying to push back hair that wasn't there due to being tied back and under the beanie.

"Well, you've certainly made her very happy," said Oskar. "However, if you hurt her, I'm legally obligated to hunt you down and tear you limb from limb."

"That's fair," said Alex, nodding. "I'd deserve it, honestly, for making my rebel cry."

"Woah now, don't tell me you're trying to turn my girl to a life of crime," said Oskar, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

"What? No, I'd never do that," said Alex, her eyes huge with pretend innocence. Willow laughed, and both Oskar and Alex relaxed.

"We're good, dad, I promise," said Willow. "Now, how about you order that pizza so Alex and I can get to studying?" Oskar squinted his eyes at them.

"Are you just trying to get me out of the place so you two can have some alone time?" Oskar asked. Willow blushed bright red.

"Dad, I'm fourteen!" she protested, to which Oskar laughed and clapped her on the back.

"Only trying to rile you up, sweetheart," said Oskar. He picked up the brochure for the local pizza place, which was always kept on the phone table, and brought it over to sit on the couch so that the two girls could help him decide on the menu for the night. "Now, what do you two kids want on your pizzas?"

"I'll eat anything," said Alex, shrugging.

"She will," said Willow, rolling her eyes. "One time at the cafeteria, she snuck some of Louisa's vegemite and put it on a cupcake. And then she ate it."

"What? It was good," said Alex.

"It was disgusting!" said Willow, but then both girls laughed. Oskar breathed a sigh of relief, though he suddenly regretted sitting between the two.

"Alright, how about I get what I want and you two can share one," said Oskar. "Sound good?"

"Aww, no fair, how come you get an entire pizza to yourself?" Alex asked. "I can inhale an entire pizza."

"So, class pizza days are fun," said Willow with a smirk. Alex nodded, fondly remembering many past pizza days when the whole class got pizza. That was usually when Leila was teaching, or in Astor or Evergray's classes. Though, Louisa also had a pizza day for the Rainbow Club.

"Alright, fine, we all get a pizza each," said Oskar.

"Yes!" Alex cheered while Willow giggled. "Just get me one with everything on it and extra anchovies." Willow made a face while Oskar chuckled and selected an Everything Pizza for Alex.

"And you, my little tree?" Oskar asked, ruffling his daughter's hair. Alex whispered 'rebel tree', to which Willow laughed again.

"Uh, meatlovers I guess?" Willow said, shrugging. "Or ham and cheese."

"Boring," said Alex.

"Well, excuse me, garbage guts," said Willow. Alex cackled.

"Alright, and I'll just have a Supreme," said Oskar. "I'll just order them, you two have fun up in Willow's room. But not too much fun, mind."

"Dad," Willow complained as she got up and led Alex to her bedroom.

"Your dad's cool," said Alex as she followed Willow into her bedroom and tossed her schoolbag down onto the floor with a heavy thud. Willow wondered what her girlfriend had in there, then decided that she didn't really want to know.

"I'm glad you think so," said Willow, her cheeks still pink. "He's embarrassing me, but I guess that's just what fathers are meant to do."

"Eh, you should see my older brothers," said Alex, shrugging. "I am not looking forward to bringing you home to meet my family, that's for sure. But I will. Someday."

"Take your time," said Willow, stepping forward to embrace her girlfriend. As ever, Alex smelled of the streets, and this time of year, of the icy cold of outside. "So, what do you wanna do while we wait for the pizza to get here?"

"Well, I have an idea," said Alex, waggling her eyebrows. Willow rolled her eyes but accepted the kiss that Alex gave her.

"We're just going to kiss for an hour?" Willow asked. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. "Or, well, half an hour?"

"Yes?" said Alex. "Come on." She pulled Willow in closer, pressing their lips together again.

When Oskar checked in on them a few minutes later, they'd migrated to Willow's bed and sprang apart like a couple of guilty teenagers. Which they were, though their clothes were still on and the kisses hadn't progressed beyond a little bit of tongue.

"Behave yourselves, girls," said Oskar, stern fatherly warning in his voice despite the twinkle in his eyes.

"Dad, we were just kissing," said Willow.

"Hey, I get it, I 'studied' too once," said Oskar, making air quotes with his fingers.

"Sorry, sir," said Alex. "I promise to keep my hands off your daughter from now on."

"Uh huh," said Oskar, giving her a skeptical look. "Oh, Willow, if you want, it's a clear night so you and Alex can go to the roof if you want. You just might need a few blankets. To keep warm, of course."

"The roof?" Alex echoed, her eyes huge with excitement.

"Yeah, sometimes I like to go to the roof of the apartment building to just clear my head and watch the stars," said Willow. Alex turned her huge eyes on Willow.

"Do you wanna go up there?" Alex asked. The 'please' was unspoken. "I go to the roof of my apartment building sometimes but, well, there's usually smokers up there or no-good people and you can never really see the sky..."

"Oh, that's it, we're going to the roof," said Willow, rising from her bed and taking Alex's hand. "C'mon, renegade, let's get some blankets and head up there."

"I'll bring your pizzas up to you," said Oskar as the girls began stripping Willow's bed of blankets and getting more blankets and pillows out of the linen closet.

"Thanks, dad," said Willow, grinning at him over a pillow that she held under one arm and a blanket that she held under another arm.

Excitement thrilled through Willow as she climbed the stairs with Alex in tow. They'd both taken backpacks stuffed with a pillow each, and each girl held at least one folded blanket.

"Ready to see the stars?" Willow asked as she paused at the top of the stairs.

"Show me the stars, renegade," Alex whispered, her eyes huge and a little glassy with tears. And Willow grinned as she opened the door onto a starlit sky.

The roof of the apartment building had a little garden, which Willow had helped to cultivate with her father. It was just a few ferns, trees, and flowering bushes surrounding a tiny patch of grass, but Willow loved it up here. Especially as she started to set down the blankets and pillows for them to sit on and cuddle up with.

"Wow," Alex whispered when she sat down at last, staring up at the stars. She gazed up with almost reverent adoration, and Willow smiled as she watched her girlfriend's face. For once, she was glad that the sun set early in winter.

"You've really never seen the stars before?" Willow asked. Alex shook her head, never once taking her eyes from the sky.

"Never this close or this clear," said Alex. She laid down on her back, pulling a blanket over herself and resting her head on a pillow as she gazed up at the galaxy of stars that suddenly seemed to be at her fingertips. "It's... by Aideen, Wills, it's beautiful." Willow was a little surprised to see a tear trickle out of the corner of Alex's eye.

"I'll get some more pillows and blankets," said Willow. "You'll be okay up here on your own?"

"This is a good neighbourhood, right?" Alex asked, her eyes flicking to Willow for a moment. Willow nodded.

"Yes," said Willow. "It's a very nice neighbourhood."

"Then yeah, I'll be fine," said Alex. She grinned, and Willow grinned back at her.

A few trips later, the space was all set up, complete with the thing that Alex had literally come here for. Willow had even dressed a little warmer, wearing a thick winter coat and a black beanie of her own pulled down over her ears. She also had a long knitted dark blue scarf that she wound around both hers and Alex's necks as they lay together, staring up at the stars.

"I bet Linda knows all the constellations," said Alex.

"Daine does too," said Willow. Alex looked at her, frowning in confusion.

"That emo kid who can't read?" Alex asked. Willow nodded, looking back at her.

"Everyone's full of surprises," said Willow. "I thought you knew that by now."

"Ha, yeah, you're right," said Alex. "My bad."

"Honestly? A lot of people make that mistake, so I think you're good," said Willow. Under the blanket that they had spread over them, her hand sought out and found Alex's, her thumb rubbing over the back of Alex's hand as they looked into each other's eyes.

"You make me so happy, Wills," said Alex.

"You do too, Alex," said Willow, a smile stretching her lips. Alex closed the distance between them and gave her girlfriend a kiss, their noses brushing together.

"Can I call you emo tree?" Alex asked when they parted. Willow opened and closed her mouth a few times before sighing.

"That's what Daine calls me," said Willow. "He's emo boy, I'm emo tree."

"But can I?" Alex asked.

"I prefer rebel," said Willow. "Or Wills. But I guess you can call me that too, if you want."

"Good," said Alex, grinning. "My emo tree."

"Okay, see, that sounds different to just emo tree," said Willow. "Like my rebel. And you're my renegade."

"Damn right, I'm your renegade," said Alex. "But hey, does that mean that when you tripped over my skateboard, I should've yelled timber?" Willow shoved her girlfriend lightly under the blankets and Alex laughed, the sound ringing out in the cold night air. Willow's laughter soon joined it as she relaxed into her girlfriend's presence.

When Oskar at last came up with the pizzas, he found the two girls still giggling, almost in tears of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Oskar asked, standing above them with a curious look on his face.

"Timber!" Willow and Alex both blurted at the same time before dissolving into gales of laughter once more. Oskar shook his head before he set the pizza boxes down. At least his baby girl's girlfriend was making her laugh. He loved seeing his daughter happy, and if Alex made her happy, well, Alex could stay.

Just as long as they kept their clothes on until Willow was old enough. And didn't get arrested. And didn't break the law. But somehow, Oskar had the feeling that Alex was responsible enough to not do any of those things. Maybe. Hopefully.


End file.
